City of Irvine to Pay $97M for Industrial Rec Project

The Irvine City Council in Orange County, Calif., has approved a nearly nine-figure acquisition for a 110,000-square-foot industrial building for public recreation. It just needs to build it first. 

The 7.3-acre site at 17300 Red Hill Avenue was formerly a roughly 160,000-square-foot office complex dubbed Inwood Park, owned by a joint venture between TPG Angelo Gordon and Lincoln Property Company. Another venture sponsored by Iowa-based insurance and investment management company Principal Financial Group purchased the complex last year for $44 million, with plans to raze it and replace it with an industrial property. 

Lincoln has remained involved, however, and is leading development of the project, according to the Orange County Business Journal, which cited city records. 

Once constructed, the City of Irvine is expected to use the facility as an indoor gym and recreation center for locals. Yet, with a price tag of about $97 million, or about $880 per square foot, the city’s deal with the developers would be the most expensive single-building industrial sale in Irvine’s history, per OCBJ. 

Yet the project will likely cost a good deal more than that. Lincoln plans to build the exterior of the building, a company spokesperson told OCBJ, with the City of Irvine making interior improvements at additional expense. The city had until Sept. 3 to cancel the deal as a contingency, per OCBJ, though it appears that hasn’t happened. 

Still, the plan is far cheaper than another gymnasium proposal considered by the City Council, which would’ve cost up to $175 million and taken five years to build a new facility at Colonel Bill Barber Marine Corps Memorial Park, per city records.

“Irvine is now the second largest City in Orange County with diverse residents and sports needs,” Irvine Mayor Farrah N. Khan told Commercial Observer in a statement. “The new facility, and the first City-dedicated indoor gym, will provide residents with highly-desired badminton courts and other facilities driven by community feedback.”

Lincoln Property Company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Although the industrial market in Orange County has cooled this summer, notable deals in the region are still going through. 

In early August, for example, a joint venture between Staley Point Capital and Bain Capital acquired two warehouse facilities (one in Fullerton, not far from Irvine, and the other in Chatsworth, in northern Los Angeles County) for a combined $42.6 million. The warehouses together total 232,000 square feet. 

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.